3.6: Attendance, Arrival & Safe Release

Your organization should have clear procedures for knowing when a participant enters your care, how their attendance is accounted for, and when they safely leave your care. Procedures should consider the age and level of independence of participants, as expectations may look different for children, teens, and young adult caregivers.

Attendance & Safe Arrival

Establish a consistent process for recording attendance and responding when an expected participant does not arrive. Your procedures should identify:

• How attendance and sign-in are recorded 
• How unexpected absences are followed up 
• When parents, guardians, or emergency contacts are contacted 
• When concerns are escalated and how follow-up is documented 

Set clear follow-up and escalation timelines so your team knows what to do when a participant cannot be accounted for.

Safe Release

Establish who is authorized to pick up each participant and when a participant may leave independently based on their age, permissions provided, and your organization’s policies. Your procedures should address authorized pick-up and sign-out, confirming identity when needed, changes to pick-up arrangements, and any custody or access restrictions. A participant knowing the person who arrives does not necessarily mean that person is authorized to take them.

When Something Doesn’t Go as Planned

Your organization should have a clear escalation procedure for situations where a participant cannot be accounted for or cannot be safely released. This may include an unauthorized person arriving for pick-up, a custody or access conflict, or concerns that the person picking up the participant may pose a safety risk.

Your procedure should identify how the participant will remain safely supervised, who needs to be contacted, when leadership becomes involved, and when additional authorities or emergency services may need to be contacted. Significant concerns should be documented according to your organization’s incident-reporting procedures.